White Brothers R4 Pipes

By Cambo_wr400, Posted October 12, 2001

Can anyone tell me about the W/B R4 pipes, are they any-good? How do they compare to the E-series? And how loud are they? Any help appriciated.....

By DOC, Posted October 13, 2001

i used to own a FMFPowercore IV pipe until i totalled it recently. i just bought a R4 the other day and like it alot. the build quality and enginerring is much better than the FMF, i believe. its loud, like a Barrett because its basically straight through. the FMF was quieter. it comes with a spark arrestor that can be removed in 15 seconds and looks great when polished with autosol. they look pretty bad from the box. haven't yet healed from the injurys so i havent ridden the bike yet, but ill let you know.

By DOC, Posted October 14, 2001

hey, i rode my bike today with the new pipe and im not all that impressed with it. Not only is it louder than the FMF, but it sounds different, more deeper, which gives me a headache. Here is the interesting thing. There was stuff all difference with the power between the two pipes so i assumed it was all noise and not much more go. But after two hours of riding, the end cap on the pipe was spotless. Not a trace of carbon, but my FMF left its end cap black with the same jetting. So now i need to play with bigger jets i guess, so i hope theres more power to go with all this extra noise. But for now, i wish i bought another FMF. Oh, and this was with the spark arrestor removed, so ill try putting it back in to see if there's much difference. Does anyone else have anything to share?

By Cambo_wr400, Posted October 15, 2001

Sounds too loud for my liking but thanks for the info, I might still chase up a YZ unit at 102db. How much $ and how loud was the FMF because I have herd good reports on them..... Thanks DOC.....

By DOC, Posted October 16, 2001

i bought my FMFPowercore IV (with spark arrestor) from Ballards 6 months ago. Ballards no longer deals with FMF so i got the pipe for $450 (run out price). I went looking for another the other day, and my local dealer advised the price would be about $550. The R4 was the same price and he had one in stock, so i bought the thing, just to be different.

Don't get me wrong, the Powercore IV is a lound pipe, but it isn't ear shattering. There is a Powercore IV Q, and that is a quieter version, but not sure how the performance goes. Have a look at their page at www.fmfracing.com.

I re-fitted the spark arrestor in the R4, and that helped to reduce some of the 'bark', and it did increase the performance of the pipe (no joke). This combined with a 175 main jet has taken the pipe to a slightly better power output compared to the FMF (top end, low and mid are about the same). However, the powercore gave the bike a much sweeter exhaust note. It sounds loud and sharp, whereas the R4 barks like a pitbull with rabies.

So, the R4 is constructed and engineered better than the FMF, but doesn't sound that great. The power out put seems to be slightly better than the FMF, but not by very much. They are about the same price, so thats not an issue.

If i could go back, i would get the FMF. I miss that sweet, sweet sound! I'll buy another when i buy a new bike, whenever that is.